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The king of the Northern Desert was not a particularly romantic demon. He was borne of ice and shadows. The home he grew up in did not look kindly upon the weak and it made vulnerability especially difficult. Trust was very rare here and few were fortunate enough to earn it from the king. That being said, love in the demon realm looked quite different from that of humans. And romance especially was an entirely foreign concept to him.
It was typical for demons to physically hit one another when there was fondness. Displays of strength and power were valued in demon culture. There was a difference between a flirtatious beating and a serious one.
It’s what made Mobei Jun particularly frustrated in his attempts at courting his human. Shang Qinghua never hit him back! Was he overdoing it? No. Apparently he didn’t like it. Humans are oddly sensitive…
Again, Mobei Jun was not a romantic individual but that did not mean he did not feel deeply for Shang Qinghua. In fact, he felt a little possessive over the human man. Whenever he returned to his peak Mobei Jun would become exceedingly grumpier as the days passed until Shang Qinghua returned. He felt reluctant to let him go where he was under-appreciated by his martial peers. But the man insisted.
How could Mobei Jun clarify to Shang Qinghua how important he was to him? He was already reluctant to admit his feelings to himself, even.
After all, Shang Qinghua was quite the enigma. He would most certainly lose in any fight—he cowers from the thought alone! Qinghua hadn’t seemed to understand or be able to interpret the beatings from one another. Apparently, humans read all hitting as bad. And while some humans were capable of appreciating this, Shang Qinghua did not seem to be one of them. Plus! He rambles on and on if he isn’t told to shut up and waves his hands about in an odd fashion. In addition, he’s quite small, even for human standards! He would also do this thing where if you teased him he began to stutter and his cheeks would bloom a bright red and his eyes would widen and sometimes! Sometimes he would tease back.
Mobei Jun would prefer to say that he likes Shang Qinghua despite these traits but he, in fact, adores the human all the more for these qualities.
To show his appreciation, Mobei Jun gave Shang Qinghua a promotion.
“Chief advisor!?” Shang Qinghua squeaked. “My king, this one would be honored!”
“Good,” Mobei Jun grunted. The human practically already was this, but the official title would be good. Plus, Shang Qinghua seemed quite excited at the prospect.
Then, one afternoon Mobei Jun portaled into Shang Qinghua’s quarters and decided the meager room was not befitting his advisor and had his things moved into the room next to Mobei Jun. This way, Shang Qinghua should know that Mobei Jun trusts him enough to allow him to be so close to where he slept.
“Good morning, my king!” Shang Qinghua greeted one day, in his pale yellow and cream robes.
Mobei Jun frowned at the sight. “No. Go change.”
“Ah? My king? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Shang Qinghua gripped the hem of his outermost layer and pouted.
“Those are Qinghua’s martial robes. Here you should be in blue.”
“Unfortunately my only set of blue robes were destroyed on the last mission you sent me on, my king.”
“Fine,” Mobei Jun huffed before stepping through a portal to ask his head seamstress for robes for Qinghua.
Just a few days later, the peak lord found his wardrobe filled with brand new robes matching the traditional shades of his king’s.
Perhaps most importantly, Shang Qinghua had previously told him that he wanted Mobei Jun to make him a bowl of hand pulled noodles. Of course, the Northern King readily accepted the task. After all, he had heard from Luo Binghe that humans appreciated a good meal from their prospective partner.
Another thing Mobei Jun noted in this regard was that Shang Qinghua was particularly bad at finishing a meal. Cold stew would be left on his desk, long forgotten, along with stale cups of tea and other things. He could only assume that the flavors of these items were poor! Simply put, Mobei Jun had to find what exactly was wrong with these meals.
“Shang Qinghua,” Mobei Jun began, at the sight of another unfinished meal, late one evening. He had joined his advisor in his office when he had grown bored.
“Yes, my king?” Shang Qinghua spoke without looking away from the letter he was writing.
“You didn’t finish your dinner. Was there anything wrong with it?”
A pause, before looking up. “I…” He shook his head, deciding against it. “No, my king.”
Then he returned to writing.
Mobei Jun sensed the apprehension. He knew Shang Qinghua had a habit of trying to please his king so surely, this was an opportunity for him to anticipate his advisor’s needs just as Shang Qinghua often did for him.
He promptly went to the kitchens where he told the cooks to make something that Shang Qinghua preferred the next evening.
When Mobei Jun returned from kicking the asses of several demons attempting to overthrow him the next day, he once more entered Qinghua’s study. The human himself was not in the room, but clearly he had been earlier, a new bowl of half-eaten rice and meat sat to the side of his desk.
This would not do.
🌻
Shang Qinghua lowered himself into the steaming water of his bath, back aching after another long day of work.
The hot bath instantly helped to soothe his muscles, but it could only do so much for his brain!
Ah… Why on earth did his king suddenly decide to pile even more responsibility on top of him? Sure, he was nicer to him now, no longer hitting him or threatening him. He was only a little scary these days (and the ways he was scary… well… maybe they excited him just a bit as well).
Now, if only his king would let up on his workload!
He was now officially considered Mobei Jun’s advisor. He got a raise, better room, nicer clothes–in the Mobei clan’s colors too!
Was he supposed to now delegate some more of his old responsibilities to others–probably! But there was a reason that Shang Qinghua was doing them to begin with! Giving his important tasks to some cannon-fodder or NPC was out of the question! So, maybe he didn’t need to fill out every other form himself but what inevitably would happen is him having to redo someone else’s work! Not to mention how annoying it is to teach someone to do it in the first place…
If only he could clone himself!
Or imagine if his king could clone himself. Two Mobei Juns… regal as ever! Between their cool solid chests was their most loyal servant…
Hey! Get! Your! Brain! Out! Of! The! Gutter!
Deciding he’d been in the bath for too long, Shang Qinghua gets out and dries himself off. The cold air of the Northern palace instantly crept back over and he quickly threw on his night robes to avoid a chill.
Hopefully he would be able to catch a break soon!
~
Shang Qinghua could not catch a break.
His day began early as he wanted to finish writing up a response to a demon’s proposal for a new trade route. Right before he could finish it, however, Mobei Jun appeared in his office and when he approached Shang Qinghua’s desk–littered with documents, brushes, cold food and tea, he frowned and seemed to glare at the advisor.
What was it now!? He was wearing blue, finally! What more could this ice demon want from him?
“M-morning, my king,” Qinghua hazarded a greeting. “Can this lowly one get his king anything?”
Mobei Jun gave a half-hearted grunt before teleporting out of the room.
Qinghua sat frozen in confusion until the king reappeared with a thick cloak which he threw at him. The weight of it nearly knocked him over.
“Come,” Mobei Jun demanded and practically dragged Shang Qinghua down the hall.
The next thing he knew, he was trudging up a mountain in the dark, since it was winter and this far north, the days were incredibly short. Mobei Jun seemed irritable too, like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Shang Qinghua was made to carefully tread the ice and snow as well as his king’s temper.
Then, at the top of the mountain, a Three-Tailed Poisonous Ice Leopard attacked them, nearly sinking its fangs into Shang Qinghua’s neck. Of course, the creature was no match for his king, who swiftly took it out but not before Shang Qinghua took a harsh kick in the ribs from it.
Just as the sun rose above the horizon, as Mobei Jun made the finishing blow, Shang Qinghua thought for a brief moment that the sky was a pretty shade of pink until the pain in his side came back to the forefront of his mind.
“My king,” Shang Qinghua panted. “This servant believes one of his ribs may be broken…”
Then, Mobei Jun frowned before grunting something about the day being “ruined” before swiftly grabbing the human and returning them both to Shang Qinghua’s rooms in the palace and storming off.
Just what the hell was any of that about!?
❄️
Mobei Jun was incredibly frustrated.
That “date” went horribly!
Mobei Jun had tried recreating the “date” he had read about in one of Shang Qinghua’s novels. He had skimmed through most of it, but it boiled down to the couple walking together and watching the sun rise at the top of a mountain. He didn’t fully understand the appeal, but humans apparently enjoyed this sort of activity so he would do it for Qinghua.
Then, Shang Qinghua was attacked by that damned creature and injured! Not to mention they didn’t even get to see the sun rise before they had to leave.
Shang Qinghua did not like getting hit. Not even for displays of affection! So taking a serious blow from anyone or anything had been out of the question in the demon king’s mind.
The physician said his ribs weren’t broken, “just badly bruised. Nothing that a good cultivator couldn’t fix up after a good night’s rest or two.”
As a wordless apology, Mobei Jun transferred some qi to the human before telling him to rest.
Mobei Jun figured he should prepare some food for him in the meantime, and after the last few days of unfinished bowls and plates, he decided he should make the noodles himself.
The kitchens were relatively empty but Mobei Jun didn’t want help anyway. He had seen this done once or twice before, how hard could it be?
Fairly challenging, as it turned out. The noodles all stuck together and the broth was a little too salty but this king was always naturally gifted at anything he attempted. So surely these would still be better than the average demon’s?
He delivered the noodles to a sleeping Qinghua when another demon alerted him of an urgent matter outside the palace. He wanted to stay with the human but the issue had to take priority.
When Mobei Jun returned the following day, he found a note left for him from Shang Qinghua.
My king,
Apologies I am not here to greet you on your return. However, I need to visit An Ding Peak for a few days and check in with my fellow Peak lords.
This servant will return as soon as his work is finished! I promise.
Yours,
Shang Qinghua
Not a bite had been eaten from the bowl.
🌻
Shang Qinghua was filing reports at Cang Qiong. He was back at his peak, but still working his ass off. Every now and then the peak lord simply got sick of the frozen wasteland of the Northern Demon Realm and had to return to An Ding simply to feel like he could breathe again. Sure, he had systems and warm clothes so he wouldn’t freeze while there. But it was definitely easier to heal bruised ribs when in a warmer climate.
Yeah he was an immortal cultivator! Yeah he should have no problem healing himself anywhere! Yeah he was maybe just making excuses to avoid the strange behavior of Mobei Jun for a few days…
He grit his teeth. Why did his king insist on dragging him around so much!? He had things to do! Especially with all these new duties of his. The ones Mobei Jun assigned to him!
The peak lord sighed and shoved those thoughts out of mind. He didn’t have time to think about the odd antics of his king when there was work to do!
And of course, those antics would fucking continue and follow him no matter where he went!
Mobei Jun appeared within his room and Shang Qinghua hardly spared a glance upward at him.
“Yes, my king?” He continued to fill out the paperwork.
“Qinghua left.”
“Did my king not receive this servant’s letter?”
“Yes.”
Shang Qinghua felt that he had a sense of where this was going thanks to how spoiled his king was. He cannot be in two places at once, Mobei Jun!
“My king surely knows this one must return to his duties on his peak on occasion. Was there something he needed?”
“A letter is insufficient,” Mobei Jun huffed.
Shang Qinghua finally put down his brush. “Apologies, this one assumed that because my king was gone he could leave with a letter as well.”
Mobei Jun grit his teeth. “No.”
That finally sparked the flame of irritation within the peak lord. “No? What does my king expect then? A month’s notice? A parting gift? Pardon this one for assuming he could take his leave without retribution!”
“Not retribution.”
Shang Qinghua rose to his feet. “My king comes and goes without warning constantly! Excuse this lowly one for having more to tend to than just the spontaneous whims of his king. Perhaps my king should have considered that before piling so many duties on this one!”
“You are ungrateful?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth!” Shang Qinghua snapped. He took a deep inhale in an attempt to calm himself. “Now. Now that my king is here, may this lowly servant request two nights here at his peak to ensure things run just as smoothly here as they do in my king’s territory?”
“Fine,” Mobei Jun turned and without a second word, vanished from the room.
Shang Qinghua stayed three nights, just to be petty.
❄️
Mobei Jun knew he was horrible at communicating.
He knew that somehow, others were able to just talk. Use their voices to communicate their thoughts and feelings. Yet. He. Was. Not. Able. To.
His father communicated anger with violence. His mother with silence. Joy was never an emotion he witnessed as a youth. All of it meshed together into this amalgamation of a man who could not discern his own feelings let alone explain them.
Shang Qinghua was fascinating to him in this way. He wore his emotions on his sleeve. Expressions varied drastically moment to moment. It all seemed so pathetic to him, initially. What use was a spy who so blatantly displayed every thought he had?
And yet it was a marvel to the demon. He had never seen so much emotion in someone’s face. Mobei Jun couldn’t even decipher most of them at the beginning. While someone else could see sadness, Mobei Jun only saw a sopping wet mess of a man.
Wasn’t it all just so… inconvenient?
Mobei Jun was an ice demon and he was trained from the very beginning that emotion was weakness. So his heart was frozen for a long time until this human slowly wound his way around it and thawed him out. It was harder to feel. Ice numbs everything and isn’t it easier to not feel at all?
But oh. If not for warmth would he ever feel his heart flutter when Shang Qinghua laughed? Or the racing of his blood in his veins when Shang Qinghua used his quick wits and sharp mind? It must be worth it to ache with sadness if only to be able to smile with his beloved.
Yes. Beloved. Because that infuriating, little mess of a cultivator had managed to sow love in the ice demon’s heart.
“Alright, Mobei. What’s wrong?” Luo Binghe asked his second-in-command.
Luo Binghe had developed a habit of calling on the ice demon whenever his husband Shen Qingqiu was busy. It was good, of course, for them to convene often but sometimes, Mobei Jun had other things on his mind. Especially when there simply was next to no business to discuss.
“Pardon me, Junshang. This one is simply distracted...”
“The great Mobei Jun? Distracted?” Luo Binghe was surprised. “Now that’s interesting.”
A thought occurred to Mobei Jun. “Junshang… surely you excel at most anything.”
“Flattering me?” Luo Binghe raised a brow.
“This one…” He began before lowering his voice. “This one cannot seem to make a proper bowl of noodles.”
“And… since when do you need to make noodles?”
“Since Qinghua asked,” Mobei Jun replied without thinking.
Luo Binghe’s eyes lit up, “I can help with that.”
The demon emperor taught Mobei Jun the proper methods to cook hand-pulled noodles. How to check the elasticity of the dough, the proper seasoning for the broth, and how to ensure the meat was fully cooked but not too tough. His results weren’t as perfect as Luo Binghe’s, but they were miles better than his last attempt.
“Keep practicing and they’ll be great,” Luo Binghe patted Mobei Jun on the back for taking off with his pot of perfect noodles to feed to his husband.
Mobei Jun stared into his own pot, the noodles a little stuck together here and there.
This would not be the batch he fed to Qinghua, he decided.
🌻
It was another awful evening in the northern desert. Court was an entire headache in and of itself. Only one person died but Mobei Jun very clearly had wanted to slaughter at least a dozen more. So for the nth time Shang Qinghua had to call a recess and reign in his king’s tantrum who clearly didn’t want to speak to Shang Qinghua. To which Shang Qinghua snapped that he could very well walk out if Mobei Jun was going to force him to rehire a dozen palace staff just after he had finished weeding out the untrustworthy and incompetent demons.
Mobei Jun begrudgingly relented but the rest of the afternoon resulted in nothing getting accomplished at all! Instead, court proceedings went longer than usual and was an utter waste of time. Shang Qinghua still had correspondence to write with various tribes and merchants as well as a treaty to finish up.
At some point a servant entered with a note to which Shang Qinghua told them to simply set it on his desk. It wasn’t until he had finally drafted the treaty and the sun had set long ago that he finally read it.
Shang Qinghua,
This one would like to see you at dinner.
Mobei Jun
Short and to the point. Very in character for his king! Shang Qinghua could tell it was meant to be an invitation despite how much it sounded like a demand.
…But dinner time had long since passed.
Guilt instantly flooded Shang Qinghua’s stomach. Then, as if on cue, the temperature of the room dropped as Mobei Jun stepped inside, a bowl in hand.
“Qinghua,” he grumbled.
“My king—“
“So you did get my invitation,” Mobei Jun’s eyes fell to the parchment.
The stress of the day caught up to Shang Qinghua, who shot to his feet. “Don’t call it an invitation if it’s a demand!”
“This one did no such thing.”
“Then—my king—you can’t be angry if I turn down your request! Maybe I needed space after the behavior you exhibited today!”
“You did not even reply.”
And that may have been true, but honestly? Shang Qinghua was fucking fed up! “I am sick of you expecting everything from me! Had you stopped and considered that maybe I couldn’t make it to dinner because of the amount of work you piled on top of me?”
“…This one made you noodles.”
“I don’t need any fucking noodles!” Shang Qinghua screamed. After realizing how loud he had gotten, he immediately stormed out of the room.
❄️
Mobei Jun stared at the door Shang Qinghua had just slammed.
Something foreign festered deep with the demon. Something colder than ice. Something hollow.
He grit his teeth and threw the bowl of noodles across the room. It shattered against the stone wall.
Whilst watching the broth run down onto the floor, Mobei Jun sank with it. What was it this time? He didn’t even try them!
What use was he if he couldn’t even make a simple bowl of noodles for his beloved Qinghua?
That feeling in his chest grew. The excitement from making an adequate meal was gone.
Without a thought he cut a portal into his advisor's room. Shang Qinghua had just entered the room.
“This king demands to know what was wrong with the noodles,” Mobei Jun grunted. “Whatever this test is… he will not fail.”
“For god’s sake!” Shang Qinghua whirled around. “It’s not about the noodles!”
Mobei Jun stood and waited for more.
“I’m so tired, my king. I’ve been tired since before I was even born. I haven’t felt a day of true respite in a lifetime.”
Shang Qinghua’s eyes filled with tears. Mobei Jun was frozen to the spot.
“I’m surrounded by people and yet I feel so alone. I don’t know how to ask for help. I don’t know how to not run away.”
Mobei Jun clenched a fist at his side.
“I don’t need noodles. I want… I want to be someone you make noodles for.”
The demon king struggled to comprehend the distinction.
Shang Qinghua continued. “I want to be cared for. I want a break from all the work and effort I do every single day. I want to come home to someone who will brush my hair for me and then I’ll massage your sore feet. And you’ll let me ramble to you about my day and you won’t complain even a little bit. Even when it’s really boring or doesn’t make any sense. And once we're in bed we’ll hold onto each other until we fall asleep and we’ll wake up together and I won’t be alone anymore. I’ll never leave you and you’ll promise to never leave me either. And when we promise that we’ll really mean it. And when I get sick you’ll bring me tea and then… Then you’ll make me noodles.”
Shang Qinghua had tears streaking down his face. Mobei Jun hesitated.
“Don’t you see, my king?” he sniffed. “I don’t want noodles… I just want you.”
In an instant, Mobei Jun closed the distance between them and the two melted together. Shang Qinghua buried his teary face into his king’s robes and Mobei simply held him close.
“This one is sorry,” Mobei Jun said. “This k—I do not know how to express myself. I am often too proud to admit my lack of understanding.
“I want you, Qinghua. I want you by my side. I am selfish and it pains me to see you away. But if a lack of replies to dinner requests is what gets you to simply stay… this king will endure.”
Shang Qinghua sniffed, loudly.
“This is what I want,” Mobei Jun whispered, carding a hand through the human’s hair. “For you to tell me everything on your mind. To tell me when I’m not understanding.”
“M-my king…” came a muffled response.
“I want you Qinghua,” he said. “All of you.”
Shang Qinghua lifted his face, finally. “R-really?”
“I thought my intentions were clear,” Mobei Jun stated. “I see that was inaccurate.”
Shang Qinghua shook his head. “I wondered… but you must realize, my king! How could someone as magnificent as you have any interest in me?”
“You must listen to this king when he informs you that it is you who is magnificent.”
He tilted his beloved’s chin up before capturing his lips within his own. Shang Qinghua’s mouth was warm, inviting, and sweet. His lips were soft and Mobei Jun was hungry.
“I’m sorry about dinner,” Shang Qinghua said when they finally pulled apart. “The demon who delivered the invite didn’t mention it was from you. I had only just read it when you arrived.”
“And I apologize for not inviting you personally.”
“…You really made me noodles?” Shang Qinghua wiped his face on his sleeve.
“This one has been practicing.”
“Did someone in the kitchens teach you?”
“No.”
“Oh you taught yourself—?”
“Junshang taught me.”
“Oh my god… My king!”
“He volunteered.”
“Ah… well… Are they still in the other room? I’d love to try them…”
“…This king will make you a fresh batch.”
“Oh okay. Maybe tomorrow, then?” Shang Qinghua yawned.
“Tomorrow. Qinghua should rest.”
“Mm,” Shang Qinghua leaned against Mobei Jun as they stood up. He guided the human toward his bed and helped remove his hairpiece and outer robes before tucking him into bed.
Shang Qinghua patted the other pillow. Mobei Jun blushed at the idea of sharing the bed now.
“Come on, my king, you’ve slept in my bed a hundred times!”
“Mm,” Mobei Jun relented and climbed in after removing his own outer robes.
The two relaxed finally in each others arms, relishing in the coolness or warmth of the other as the exhaustion of the day caught up and pulled them into sleep.
Maybe tonight’s bowl of noodles had been ruined, but tomorrow they would be made anew.